


After All This Time:  The Death of Tobias Snape 2005

by EliLeFey



Category: Arthurian Mythology, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 21:13:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5680969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EliLeFey/pseuds/EliLeFey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Snape family is reunited when Tobias is dying.  Severus drops the bomb about Albus.  What can be forgiven, and what should never be forgotten?</p>
            </blockquote>





	After All This Time:  The Death of Tobias Snape 2005

**Author's Note:**

> First draft.

Eli found out that Tobias Snape had collapsed and was hospitalized in Vancouver due to congestive heart failure. His heart had stopped at one point, and he had been resuscitated. It was during that brief period of death that he contacted her. As soon as she could get the time, she sought him out on the astral plane, finding him at a hospital. She went to the nearest bathroom and apparated, then went to his room, after making contact with the nurse’s station and introducing herself as a family friend.

  
“We didn’t know he had a family,” a nurse said. “He didn’t want anyone to be contacted. But he’s still wearing a ring; I just thought he’d been widowed.”

 

Eli went to Tobias’s room. He was surprised to see her. “Eli, how the hell did you find me?”

  
“Did you think of me before you died?”

  
“Yes, do you mean you heard me or something?”

  
“Or something,” she smiled.

  
“Are you still with my son?”

  
“Yes.”

  
Tobias smiled at her. “Thank you for taking care of them. I never wanted children, I was terrified I’d be as bad a father as my own. And I was. I ruined Eileen’s life, I hurt my own child. There hasn’t been a single day where I woke up and didn’t miss them. When I had them with me I did everything I could to drive them away, once they were gone, it hurt so bad.”

Eli took his hand, and looked into his eyes. “You’d like to see them.”

  
“Yes. I don’t have much time left. I’m not going to let them cut me up, it didn’t save Rory. I hate hospitals. I can’t drink, I can’t smoke hash, the food is terrible. They’re going to move me to a hospice day after tomorrow.”

  
“Yeah, that’s better, this kind of medicine won’t cure you, only make you die longer. Would you like me to ask your wife and son if they want to come here? I don’t know what they’ll say. I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I think they should come by.”

  
“Jeanne-Marie said they’re in a sort of witness protection program in Avalon. What are their names now?”

  
“Eileen is now Aveline Pendragon, Severus is Alan Pendragon.”

  
“Pendragon?”

  
Eli grinned. “I bet you’d never guess, but you are a direct male descendant of Arthur.”

 

Tobias stared at her. “Surely you jest.”

  
“No, DNA does not lie, and ‘don’t call me Shirley.’ You’re not the only one, but your son’s mother was a witch, and that’s what activated the gene, so to speak. You’ve got some magic in you, not enough for those poofs in the Ministry and their elitist school, but you never got any training, to learn what you do have. You felt magic inside you, that’s probably why you were attracted to my father and Eileen. I know it’s why you resented your son so much, he had what you didn’t even know you wanted.”

“So I’m not so bad for a drunken Muggle, eh?”

  
“I hate that word. It sounds so ugly, so patronizing. And you did cut back on your drinking, didn’t you?”

  
“Thanks to the hashish, yes. Pity it’s not legal, when alcohol is so deadly and you can get that poison anywhere. So how are they doing?”

 

“They’re doing well, now. Eileen went to Avalon the same time you came here, she’s happy there. You realize that we had to relocate both of you because of what your son was doing, there were wizards who would have targeted you to get to him. You’re safe here, as long as you stay in the jurisdiction of the Rim of Fire you’re under the protection of the Guardians. Severus went through a lot, he suffered quite a bit . . . I should tell you, he’s officially dead here in this realm. There was a sort of war in Britain among the wizards, he’s considered to be a hero, you’d be proud of him, he was the bravest of them all. He made a lot of enemies, the only way to keep him alive was to bring him home with me. He belongs there, he is one of the Fey.”

 

She noticed that he was wearing his wedding ring. The table at his bedside was crowded with pictures, of Eileen and Severus, even some pictures taken on the Farm and at Hogswart, including a picture of Severus and her dancing at the Yule ball. He followed her gaze.

  
“It’s true, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.’ There hasn’t been a day gone by where I didn’t wake up and miss her, go to sleep missing her. He’s got you, though, hasn’t he? That’s what his mother and I wanted for him. His own Faerie. Thank you for coming . . . I understand if they don’t want any contact with me.”

 

There was a knock at the door, and a man and woman entered the room.

  
“Eli, you remember Vivienne, I’m sure.”

  
The two women hugged each other. “It’s been a long time, Eli.”

  
“This is the first time I’ve been out of Faerie since the war. It’s a secured area, the entire Rim of Fire is balanced now, but it’s going to get really ugly on Terra soon, hope you have a safe place to ride the storm out.”

  
“Witches are survivors, you know that. I’ve been spending more time on Torayama, I’ve been writing for the local news service. Rafaela kept me posted on the war. She wanted me to stay here, so I’ve been knocking around, doing stories. I’m here as a friend, Eleutheria and I come here when we can, the music’s great.”

  
“I know, I’ve been here on the astral plane, I like the Coast. Love the train, but I never go further south than San Luis Obispo.”

  
“I know, too many Dodger fans, the further south you go,”

  
“They never should have built that stadium on an old graveyard, it cursed half the state.”

 

“This is my business manager and house band drummer Danny Murton, Dannyboy, this is Eli, Takeshi and Emerald’s younger daughter.”

  
The man smiled at her. “I saw your father, he played at the first concert I went to, I was 12, that’s when I knew I wanted to be a musician. My parents brought me, they were huge Chicago blues fans, they met in college there.”

  
“I remember that tour, started in Alaska, on the Solstice, then went down the Coast to San Diego, 1959. We were going to be the Next Big Thing,” Tobias said. “We were so young.”

  
Eli took his hand. “I have to go back, I’ll return as soon as I can. Tomorrow morning when visiting hours start. Vivienne, come with me for a minute, would you?”

 

The two women left. “You’re not going to write about this, are you? If so, could you leave me out of it? I have my reasons.”

  
Vivienne nodded. “Rafaela has kept me up to date and properly silenced, you don’t have to remind me. Don’t worry. I’m here because I liked his club and the music. He was talented, maybe not as great as your dad, but he was one of the greats. Eleutheria told me about Alice, how she’s back to us, she’s living at the Farm in your old place. I’m not leaving the Pacific Rim, though. My stories got me in a lot of trouble with too many people back home. I’m on my way to the Quiddich games in Hawaii, that’s what pays my bills, I write for a lot of papers, sports, news, editorial, reviews, whatever.”

  
“I hear Eleutheria hates it back there.”

  
“Yeah, she goes there now and then but says it just doesn’t feel safe, maybe it never did. She loves the Farm, misses you a lot, just talking in the mirror isn’t the same.”

  
“I know . . . but I just don’t want to be in this realm any more, I’m just here for Tobias. As a necromancer. You helped him call me, didn’t you?”

  
“Yeah, I did. He said his wife was in Avalon, and you’d know how to find her.”

  
“I’d better get back. Hey, you know how to stay in touch,” Eli said. They walked outside, went behind the hospital, Vivienne disapparated to the secret island for the tournament, and Eli portkeyed back to Avalon. She didn’t want to disturb Alan in the laboratory, where he was teaching an advanced seminar in the differences between Terran and Faerie potion making, so she sought out his mother. She was teaching a dance class at one of the music halls, and Eli waited until it was over.

 

“It’s Tobias. He’s dying. He wants to see you, but he’ll understand if you don’t want to see him.”

  
“I want to see him.”

  
“Come to dinner at the Octagon. Bring Lily and Takeshi.”

 

Eli cooked dinner, set the table and waited for everyone to show up. Alan was the last to arrive. He took one look at everyone, sat down, raised his eyebrows, and said, “OK, just tell me what’s up immediately.”

  
“Tobias is dying.”

 

Alan’s face froze. “How do you know?”

  
“Vivienne was in Vancouver when he collapsed, she helped him send a message to me.”

  
Takeshi spoke up immediately. “I’d like to see him. I’m over 12, I can go to that realm, and this is about the only reason I would want to.”

  
“I understand, son.  Mother, if you want to go, I’ll go along with you.”

  
Lily looked around the table, then said, “I’ll go along, too.”

  
Alan looked at his mother.

  
“After all this time?”

  
“Always,” she said.

  
He understood.

 

Eli spoke up. “Right now he’s in the ICU, there are a lot of people around, but he’ll be transferred out, to a hospice. He doesn’t want any treatment, well, the only way to live longer is with a heart transplant, and he just doesn’t want that.”

  
She looked at Alan. “If you’re going, it’s incognito, of course, there is a tiny chance that someone might recognize you.”

  
“Obviously.”

 

After dinner was over and the family gone to their homes, Alan confessed that he was not surprised about his father; he had visited him on the astral plane from time to time. He’d never told Eli about his visits. After his “death” on Terra he hadn’t responded to the annual letter from his father. He hoped that enough time had passed so that he was no longer in the headlines, no one would be looking for him, and it was the Rim of Fire region, there wouldn’t be many ex Death Eaters there. The Guardians didn’t like them.

 

Even in Britain, the collapse and restructuring of the Ministry meant that old grudges and feuds were at least put on hold, if not dropped. New battle lines were drawn, about modernizing the penal system, changing the legal system, and finally doing something useful about dealing with the mentally ill and socially malfunctioning. Athena Addington was leading the charge to reform the justice system, starting with an overhaul of the criminal code and how trials were conducted. Rules of habeus corpus were established, as well as the right to counsel. The Granger-Weasely report [https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11662486/7/Harry-Potter-and-the-Eversion-of-Magic] belabored the obvious, but this time, there were enough in the Ministry listening.

 

Perhaps the endless cycle could be slowed down. Certainly Granger’s incessant know-it-all badgering could be put to good use, reforming the legal system. He remembered how horrible it was when he was caught up in the legal system and put on trial.

 

His only contacts with Terra were Alice and Neville. His single interest in keeping up with Terran magical politics was for his classes. He was teaching about Terran psychohistory in the 2oth Century and how it influenced current policy. He was an adviser to the Counsel of Druids about any future treaties with Terra. For the time being, travel to Faerie from Britian was banned, unless cleared by the Council. The Farm was the only contact with Avalon, Jeanne-Marie le Fey was the ambassador, and she continued with the traditional festivals. Invitations to those parties were difficult to obtain; you had to know someone to get in, and those who worked for the Ministry were never invited. It was gossiped that Muggles were allowed to attend, and this was true. The Statute of Secrecy was unenforceable at the Farm; it was Faerie territory in perpetua. Eli never attended any parties, and any inquiries about her were politely ignored.

 

“I thought when he left that I would never want to see him again, that I could never forgive him for what he did. After all I’ve been through, I can see how he wasn’t as horrible as I’d thought. Mother still loves him. After all this time.” His eyes started to tear up.

  
“Always,” Eli whispered.

  
Real love was eternal. So few knew what it was. It cost too much for most to bear.

  
“There’s something else bothering you, Alan.”

  
“I might as well tell you. Unraveling the twists and turns of the Wizarding Wars has been difficult. Impossible for Terrans. And you know that you can’t tell what’s happening until it’s over. Things Albus did often made no sense, and his lies upon lies got convoluted, to say the least. I don’t think he always knew what was going on, and he was just winging it.”

  
Eli set down her tablet.

  
“Harry never was the Chosen One. It was always Neville. Albus put a partial Obliviate on him when he was a baby, to hide his ability, to keep him safe. He wanted me, and a few others, to hear the prophecy, at least part of it, then did all he could to make sure that no one else would know what was really prophecized.”

  
“So Riddle was supposed to kill him, and Albus was going to keep Neville safe until it was time to unleash him?”

  
“Yes. But things went wrong. When Lily blocked Riddle, Harry became The One Who Lived, and Albus lost control of his plan, both boys were needed to work together to kill Riddle.”

  
“He must have felt that sacrificing the entire Potter family was an acceptable trade off. I can see why he would feel that way; three murdered to save so many, the only problem is he did not ask for informed consent, he was wrong to withhold the truth. He always had the idea he knew best. His lies got the best of him.”

“I can understand why he felt he couldn’t trust anyone, considering his background, considering the Ministry,” Alan said. “The ends never justify the means, he never learned that.”

  
“Not many do.”

  
“Prophecy is so difficult, it’s like trying to catch an eel with one hand. Always gets away from you and leaves you with a handful of slime.”

  
“That’s why we leave it to the Crones. It takes a life of learning to be able to begin to understand. I’ll say this for the old man, he blocked that good, I never saw any trace of that, he must have Obliviated part of his own mind to hide what he knew. Wow. Lies within lies within lies, it’s going to take a long time for Themis to sort this one out.”

  
“How am I going to tell Neville about this?”\

Alan took her tablet and accessed the library. “This is what we’ve got so far.” He called up a report that had just been released by the College. “You deal with it. Right now I don’t want to think about too much, I don’t have much time with Father and we have so many things to say.”

  
“Don’t mention anything to Neville. Let me talk to him. Right now, let’s just stay in Vancouver, focus on the family.”

  
She got up and paced the room. Then she looked out the window, to the street. It made sense. It didn’t really matter if this was the plan from the beginning, or if Albus improvised things as events unfolded. She figured he just winged it, and would have happily used either family as a blood sacrifice to stop Riddle. Then again, he had been one of Riddle’s mentors, and the record showed just how much bad craziness Riddle had been up to,even as a child. Before he had attended his first class, he had performed magic, without a wand. When he was at Hogwarts, the staff adored him, never even suspecting him, or maybe they were collaborating?

 

What about Gellert? Albus had agreed with his plans, and their split was more for personal than for ethical reasons, more ego than anything else. Albus had a pattern, he was rarely honest about his aims, never would admit to any motive, more magician than wizard, sometimes.

 

He truly was a Saxon wǣrloga

  
One of the many meanings of warlock. Oathbreaker.

  
Was it all just a game to him?

She looked over at Severus, sleeping peacefully. She took a sleeping draught, she didn’t want to think about this too much right now.

  
The next morning Eli returned to Vancouver on the astral plane. She apparated behind the hospital and went to Tobias’s room. He smiled at her. She smiled back. “They want to see you.”

  
Tobias clasped her hand, then lifted it to his lips and kissed it.

  
“Bless your soul, Eli,” he said, in a soft voice.

 

She sat down at his side, holding his left hand in hers.

  
“There’s been a change in plans. I’m going back to my place, and the hospice nurses will check in with me twice a day. Already have a staff working the place.”

  
He handed her a set of keys. “The big key is for the outside door, there’s a back stair way and a freight elevator, my place is on the second floor. The other key is for the flat. Make yourself at home, you can set up any sort of magical secret transport you use there.”

  
“When are you leaving?”

  
“This afternoon.”

  
“Can I be of assistance?”

  
“I’d love to have you with me. I’d like you to see my place. Did a lot of the work myself, you know.”

 

Eli had been to the club part of the building, an old converted four story warehouse near the docks. The first floor was the main stage and bars. There was an outdoor patio, with a smaller stage where the loading dock had been. On the second floor, Tobias had constructed a flat for his own use, an office, dressing rooms for musicians and a recording studio. The third floor was used for storage, and the fourth was divided up into rehearsal studios. The roof had a greenhouse and a small sundeck overlooking the water.

 

Eli and Danny rode with him in the ambulance back to his place. They helped Tobias get settled in a hospital bed that had been moved into the main room. The room’s walls were covered with pictures, posters, and memorabilia. Eli scanned the images, and noted that there were pictures of Eileen and Severus in the center of the display, next to the collection of pictures of Takeshi and Tobias in performance. He had several “Muggle Prints,” stationary versions of the magical images, of Severus with the Morgans, with Eli, Emerald, and Jeanne-Marie.

 

When Eli and Tobias were alone, she told him that she would set up a transfer point in his bedroom, and handed him a flagon of shimmering fluid. “We used this when I was in Tibet, it helps oxygenate the blood. Your heart is failing and there may be times when you need more than just supplemental O2. One capful in a glass of water.” She put the hashish vaporizer on the table next to the potion. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

 

Eli went to the main bedroom and set up the portkey terminal. This was a device that had special wards on it; only Faeries, or a Terran with full citizen status, could activate it, since it bypassed the mists and allowed travel between the realms.

 

She returned to the terminal set up in Alan’s front room in the Octagon. Alan and his mother were waiting for her. She handed each of them a return amulet, then they portkeyed back to Vancouver. Tobias was alone, looking out the window, when they left the bedroom. It would be impossible to say who started crying first, or who cried the most. Tobias held his arms open, “Eileen, my only love, and Severus, my only child.” They went to him, and Eli decided to patrol the building’s perimeter.

 

Alan had long ago forgiven his father for everything. His days with the Death Eaters taught him what true evil was. He’d done some things himself he regretted; Tobias had tried to do his best for him, and not everything was his fault. They had been writing to each other until the official death of Severus Snape. Jeanne-Marie had sent him word that his son was in hiding and could not be contacted. Tobias accepted that Severus had been involved in something very dangerous and courageous, and was glad he’d escaped to Faerie.

 

Tobias appreciated the irony of his situation. There had been other women, before and after her, but she was the only one he loved. As long as he’d had her, his life was, to him, an utter failure, and he blamed her, he blamed his son, when he’d fallen back into the same blue collar life that had swallowed up his parents and brothers. He’d thought he known what pain is until she was gone for good. He’d taken the money the Morgans gave him to build the dream that he and Takeshi had shared, a place where they could play, and their friends could have a stage and a studio.

 

His second life in Vancouver was a success, by most standards. His club did good business, and he was able to create a place for music and musicians. He’d channeled his grief into work, and found more real accomplishment behind the scenes. Maybe it wasn’t the same as being a star, but in many ways it was better. He didn’t miss England, he loved the West Coast, learned to like ice hockey, and created a good life for himself. If you didn’t mind all the sleepless nights worrying about Eileen and Severus, and mornings waking up to the constant ache of their absence.

 

“Just use our Terran names, Father. There were times when I wanted to tell you in person you’re forgiven, you know that, but you have to hear it from me. You asked enough in your songs, I’ve been following your music, we get a lot of Terran music there and you have a following in Faerie. Because of Takeshi.”

 

Eileen was holding Tobias, kissed his cheek, then said, “You have grandchildren. They want to see you. You know about reincarnation, don’t you?”

  
“Yeah, we used to talk about it. Did you and Eli have children?”

  
“Oh, no, not with her … my children’s mothers were selected, it’s kind of a lot to explain, and don’t look at me that way, they use a . .. process, artificial insemination. It’s a Fey thing, you wouldn’t understand.”

  
Eileen laughed. “Some of the children are born the old fashioned way, some aren’t, it all depends on the DNA. To maximize the potential of the next generation, that’s why the Fey are so more, well, evolved, I guess. They keep the population at a minimum, and maintain optimal genetic diversity.”

  
“Grandchildren . . . that certainly is a surprise. Faerie grandchildren! At least I won’t have to worry about their future, this realm is getting worse and worse. I’m glad all of you are safe. So what are their names?”

  
“Lily and Takeshi.”

 

Tobias thought of that little girl from the ‘good’ part of Spinner’s End, her family thought they were above the Snapes. And Takeshi, he remembered how close Severus was to Takeshi, and how everything between them changed when he died. Reincarnation? He hoped it was so.

 

There was a knock at the bedroom door. “Enter!” said Eli. The door opened, and Takeshi, Jeanne-Marie, and Lily came in. Takeshi set down the guitar case he was carrying and sat on the bed.

  
“Toby.” He smiled.

  
Tobias felt the same energy, he knew this boy, he looked so much like Severus, but the smile was Takeshi’s.

  
“Funny how things turn out, eh? Grandfather Toby!” He laughed.

  
The girl stood next to her father. She had dark red hair, and her eyes changed colors as her eyes moved. She looked a lot like the Evans girl, but more refined, her features were more pronounced, stronger, with elegant cheekbones, a beautifully sculpted Roman nose, and a mouth as sensual as her father’s. she had an ethereal beauty, and like all her people, had a glow from within, impossible to resist. She bent over her grandfather and kissed him on the forehead, welcoming him to his Fey family.

 

Jeanne-Marie set up an art deco cocktail cabinet with various devices and bottles. She shooed everyone from Tobias’s bed. “Let me have a look at him.” She took a wand, ran it over his body, as one of the tablets was covered with writing. She placed her hands on his skull and focused on his bodily functions, tapping into the brain centers to check for oxygenation. Inadequate perfusion caused an altered level of consciousness, which could be compensated for. At the end of life, most people wanted to have their minds and personalities intact until the end.

 

“How much time do I have?”

  
“How much do you want? You know after a certain point it’s just extending the dying process, some folks like to do that but you’re not that masochistic, Tobias. I’d say you could have one more good month, if you don’t overexert, before complete cardiac failure, if you’re willing to be a complete invalid, maybe six months. I can keep you out of pain, of course.”

 

  
“I’ll take one more good month.”

  
“I thought you would. You can play guitar, but you should stay seated, avoid stairs, no alcohol at all. Use a wheelchair if you have to go any distance.”

 

She finished writing, set the pad down next to the bottles. “I’ve left instructions, I have to get back to the Farm. Get in touch by mirror if you have any questions. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

 

Takeshi opened the guitar case, and took out the Gibson Les Paul Black Shadow. Lily fetched the Flying V, which was on a stand covered by a silk cloth. Eli brought three small amplifiers that worked with either Terran or Faerie pickups, and her Fender maple neck Precision bass.

“Let’s go over the songs, begin at the beginning,” Takeshi said. They played until it was time for the night nurse to stop by and check on Tobias. Danny Murton came up the stairs with a middle aged woman, carrying a medical bag. Severus and his children went into the bedroom, where Lily returned to Avalon and sent Eli’s cousin Asimov to Vancouver.

 

Danny brought the nurse to the flat. She was surprised to see how much better Tobias’s vital signs were compared to the discharge report. His color was good. He was not in pain. She attributed this to the fact that some people did not do well under medical treatment in a hospital setting.

  
Tobias introduced Eileen to Danny, and explained to the nurse that she would be his primary caregiver. Danny noticed that the two were still wearing their matching rings. He knew they had never been divorced since he did the taxes for the club and Tobias. He’d never asked directly, but figured that his wife and son were in some sort of witness protection program, probably having something to do with Takeshi’s mysterious murder. He always thought of Takeshi when he heard Rory Gallagher’s song, “Philby.”

 

Danny brought an armload of flowers and a bag full of get well cards from local musicians. “There’s lots more flowers downstairs, what should I do with them?”  
“put ‘em in the dressing room and have the bouncers hand them out to the ladies.”

  
The nurse gave Eileen a printed set of instructions on caring for Tobias, gave him some painkillers, phone numbers, email and other online contacts with her and other hospice nurses.

  
“You’re in pretty good shape, all things considered,” the nurse said. “I’ll be back tomorrow. With my husband. He loves this club.”

  
Tobias smiled. “I might drop in for a song or two.”

 

Danny went downstairs to the club to attend to business, and the nurse left them alone. Severus came back with Asimov and handed Takeshi his homework. “You’re not excused from classes, you know.”

  
“Tobias, this is my cousin, Asimov, he’s an excellent drummer.”

  
“Take what you need from upstairs, the first locker next to the elevator has the drums.” Tobias pointed at a set of keys on a hook near the door. “The keys are numbered.”

Eli and Asimov went to fetch a drum kit. Severus went into the kitchen to cook. He hoped the kitchen had a suitable pantry. Baking elaborate pastries took his mind off things.

 

Tobias looked at Eileen. “I’ve thought of so many things I wanted to say to you, since you’ve been gone and now that you’re here I can’t seem to think of a thing to say to you. Other than I always loved you.”

  
“I always loved you, too. It was just we didn’t work out as a couple. We both had unrealistic expectations. It didn’t help that we went through some hard times.”

  
“And then life got in the way. I took it out on you.”

  
“I gave as good as I got, Tobias.”

  
“Yes, we were evenly matched … our son turned out well, didn’t he? Despite all of the troubles we had. And such lovely grandchildren!”

  
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to know them when they were small.”

 

Eli and Asimov returned with the drum kit and set it up. Eileen told the group they could play tomorrow, but now, Tobias needed his sleep. Asimov returned to Avalon with his portkey, Eli went into the master bedroom and Takeshi brought his guitar with him to the guestroom.

 

Eileen went to the kitchen to talk to her son after Tobias went to sleep. They made a shopping list.

  
“Eli’s staying, Mother, so am I, until he dies, Takeshi says he must be here.’

  
“So am I, of course! He needs us.”

  
“I know. He wants to see Faerie. I wonder if we can get permission?”

  
“Lily could ask the Triad for a compassionate exemption.”

 

The two of them waited while the scones finished baking, cleaned up the kitchen, then she went back to her husband’s side. Alan kissed his mother and went to the bedroom, silently got ready to go to bed and got under the covers. Eli continued to write on her communication tablet for a few minutes.

 

She got into bed. Alan was still awake. “Takeshi wants to do some recording.”

  
“That would be wonderful.”

  
“Are you going to escort him to the crossroads?”

  
“I haven’t talked about that with him yet.”

  
“They both still love each other.”

  
“Yes. Love is not enough, some times. They just didn’t work well together.” Eli looked into his eyes. His thought was obvious. “No, it wasn’t you that caused the problem! Would you get over that? You have got to stop blaming yourself for what others do! It’s not always about you.”

  
“But she never would have married him except for me. And her life was so hard because of me.”

  
“Oh, get off it. She knows you were worth it. What the hell, look at all the shit you put me through, and I say it was worth it.”

  
“Grandfather was right, they never should have married.”

  
“Yeah, they might have stayed together longer, sometimes I think it’s more the idea that you HAVE to stay together that causes the problems, people feel trapped.”

  
“Do you feel trapped, Eli? Because you are.”

  
“I know, but it’s what I want. I volunteered for this. No regrets.”;

  
“Neither of them had a good role model. Father’s father was an abuser, eventually ended up in prison, Mother’s mother was absent … both tried to be a good parent but they didn’t quite get it right. And all of those idiotic social norms; you know I was shocked when I first learned about how the Fey don’t marry, how they breed and raise children, but it’s clearly far superior.”

  
“You’ve been a good father, especially considering your children are both returnees.”

  
“The older they get the more I like them; I always loved them from the first time I held them, of course. Maybe it’s easier for me because we have so much in common. I was such an alien to my father. It’s like that with the Muggleborn, my students had a lot of issues. I would imagine it’s even worse with Squibs, always being a failure, hidden from sight, not even mentioned in polite company.”

  
“I just wish the Ministry would understand that they’ve never had a better time to reintegrate their world. Muggles are ready to learn, ready to listen, but the Wizards feel they are so much superior to them. They’re always running about, messing with the minds of Muggles who stumble across them . .. eventually the truth prevails, and I don’t think the Muggles are going to have a lot of trust in Wizardry, after all the abuse they have suffered. Since the Muggles way outnumber Wizards and now have technology that can do as much, if not more, harm than all of the so called Dark Arts put together. It’s one thing rewiring the brain of a young Tom Riddle to prevent him from causing so much harm, it’s another thing to erase the memories of a person who just happened to witness the truths Wizards are ashamed to admit.”

 

Eli put her arms around Alan and rested her head over his heart. He knew she did this to sooth herself when she was stressed out and needed calming. The sound of his heart always worked, and she soon went to sleep.

Alan’s mind was still racing; he had to deal with his father’s death at the same time he had to assimilate the reality that Albus never intended to save the Potters, that they were supposed to be sacrifices, and the only reason he agreed to help them was to get Severus Snape to be his double agent.

Who knew Rita Skeeter was finally right about something?

He was never more grateful for having his death faked and moving to Faerie to be with Eli and his new family. Should he tell Neville? Maybe it would be best to just give him the published study when it was released, let him decide how these inconvenient truths be presented. Most of the Phoenixes would deny the reality and keep true to their false idol.

And so it goes. Keep on making the same mistakes by refusing to learn from the past, and rejecting anything that contradicts popular opinion.

 

Albus had been one of Riddle’s mentors. Not surprising they had so much in common. He could only imagine how Eli felt, learning her great grandfather was so duplicitous, so dishonest, so treacherous, in such contrast with the mores of her people. He felt her stirring in her sleep. He held her very close, whispered a sleep spell in her ear, then applied it to himself. Both of them needed to sleep.

He intended to take her dancing in their dreams that night. He’d mastered lucid dreaming as a child, and he’d intending on dancing with her in Vienna, at the Old Palace of the Wizards there, near the Spanish Riding School. Tonight, instead of dancing alone to the music, there were others there, and he hadn’t anticipated that.

He didn’t recognize the Dumbledores, but he knew most of the others. They were the victims, the ones used by Albus over his lifetime, the blood sacrifices he’d made. The Greater Good indeed. The casualty rate kept going up, with the numbers of noncombatants killed increasing exponentially. Additionally, the “friendly fire” victims were often blamed, scapegoated, and used as a “fall guy” to provide cover for the perps, the way that young Tom Riddle had set up Hagrid.

 

The next morning Alan took over the kitchen, and Eli was assigned to back up him and his mother, running whatever errands needed to be done, interfacing with Danny and the other club employees and musicians using the facility, since her identity was already known. She was also expected to learn the music that Takeshi and Tobias were working on.

They planned on giving a performance on the night of the next full moon, in ten days.

Lily came by in the afternoon, with a document that authorized travel to Avalon for Tobias. The Maiden and the School of Bards sent a hand written invitation to come and play with them, if he wished. He so wished, and told his family that the day after his final performance here, they would go there.

He pulled Eli aside. “I don’t know how to ask this, but is there any way I could, uh, not have to come back here?”

Eli smiled at him. “I’m sure it would not be a problem. I’ll look into it right away.” It wasn’t a problem. The Council of Crones enthusiastically approved the request. After all, he was the descendant of Arthur. Emerald sent word that she would set up a place for him at the Octagon, and that she was eager to see him again.

 

The night of the performance, the building was packed. Alan wanted to watch, so he switched gender, much to the amusement of his father, who declared that it was a pity he hadn’t been born a girl, he was gorgeous! Eli agreed.

The audience was told that the performance would be on a live feed to the internet, and that the music could be downloaded for free from the club’s web page. No pictures, please, leave your cellphones turned off or be asked to leave.

 

The next day, at noon, Tobias and his family departed for Avalon. He took his guitars, all his photos, and left his will, naming Danny Murton as executor, leaving the club to the employees and informed that a team of lawyers were finishing the paperwork to make the building a nonprofit to benefit musicians.

Avalon was better than he expected. He was welcomed to the City by the College of Bards, driven in a horse drawn carriage to the Octagon, where Emerald was waiting to greet him.

As it turned out, Tobias had a little more time than Jeanne-Marie had predicted. He lived through a complete cycle of the moon in Avalon. He spent his last days working on music with Takeshi and Faerie musicians, attracting crowds of his fans. His family was always with him.

 

One day when his wife and son were in the kitchen cooking, he was alone with Eli. “So tell me, Eli, you’re the necromancer in the family, what happens next?”

  
“You mean when you die. As for your body, we will take it to Arthur’s Tomb, and put you in the catacomb, where your body will be broken down into its elements and put back into the realm. I can cross the veil with you, if you wish, your soul goes to the crossroads, however you imagine it. Some think of it like a train terminal, depends on your vision. The thing to remember is you won’t have a physical body, and it follows that there is no time, either. You can come back every Samhain, our time, if you wish, return through the veil, where you will take the elements from the planet to form a body. As for reincarnation and going up a level, or ‘nirvana’ as some call it, it’s pretty complicated, a lot of legal paperwork, you’ll have to talk to one of the recording angels about that. All you have to remember is the afterlife, if you want to call it that, is what you make of it. You haven’t done anything bad enough to warrant any sort of eternal damnation or whatever, Tobias.”

“Is there music?”

  
“Of course there is. But you don’t have a body, so the music in your mind is projected, you know how you hear the music inside your head, then you try to get it out but you’re always not quite the same? How you’re held back by technique. That barrier to expressing the music and releasing the magic is removed.”

 

“And what about being reincarnated?”

  
“I’ve got to leave some stuff for you to figure out for yourself, and until you cross the veil it’s not going to make any sense. Trust me. I know what I’m doing. When the time comes I’ll go with you to the crossroads.”

  
“I guess I’m afraid I’ve done things that will get me punished, that’s what the vicar used to tell us, that when you die you get judged and punished and all that. I beat my wife and child. How can I be let off the hook for that?”

  
“Because of the love, as you Terrans would say. There was always a bond, a strong bond, and face it, Tobias, how many years have you been beating yourself up for what you did? And suffered, drowning in loneliness and the living hell of regrets? That’s penance enough.”

 

Eli loaded the hashish vaporizer and gave him a hit. “The music you created out of that pain, and now the music you are creating out of the joy of being reunited, isn’t it worth it? Even at your worst, she loved you.”

  
Eli took a puff herself.

  
“She never used her magic against you, Tobias. She could have done some truly terrible things to you, controlled your will, paralyzed you, but she never did. She always loved you. What made it worse is you always loved her. That’s why you two stayed together; if the bond had not been so strong, you’d’ve broken up a lot sooner. It took a lot of strength for her to leave you, but she knew she had to. She suffered more than you know.”

 

Day after day I'm more confused  
Yet I look for the light through the pouring rain  
You know that's a game that I hate to lose  
And I'm feelin' the strain  
Ain't it a shame  
Oh, give me the beat boys and free my soul  
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away  
Oh, give me the beat boys and free my soul  
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away  
Beginning to think that I'm wastin' time  
I don't understand the things I do  
The world outside looks so unkind  
And I'm countin' on you  
To carry me through  
Oh, give me the beat boys and free my soul  
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away  
Yeah, give me the beat boys and free my soul  
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away


End file.
